In Shiretoko, Hokkaido, I was most surprised by how brown bears’ weights change. Our image of brown bears is contrary to the facts. They become most skinny between July and August not after waking up from hibernation in the Spring. And when they become most fat is in October.

In some areas, like Shiretoko where salmon and whales live, brown bears can be super fat in the Fall. They increase their weight by half or double compared to their weight between July and August.

They rarely eat deer in Spring. Deer are the most serious issue for them because they both eat grass, which they compete for. Did you know that?

So for baby brown bears, Summer is the riskiest season for survival. This Summer I often heard news of bears showing up in residential areas. That is why they needed to eat for survival. Brown bears are so big, but they eat ants which are very small so that requires effort and time. On the other hand, humans who invaded into their habitat don’t require as much effort and time to eat than brown bears. And the bear dung has a very good smell as if we could put it into our tea. If we leave their dung alone, many plants sprout out of the seeds in the dung. Their dung is more clean than ours.